Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Abolition of student rights ordinance triggers protests
Civic groups hold their respective protests in favor of and against the abolition of a student rights ordinance in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Council in Seoul before a plenary session for a voting on the abolition, Friday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
The Seoul Metropolitan Council abolished the Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance 12 years after its enactment Friday, but the debate on whether it was the right decision continues.
The ordinance was introduced to promote student welfare by prohibiting corporal punishment and discrimination by teachers based on a student's gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or academic performance
First enacted in 2010 by a progressive superintendent of education for Gyeonggi Province, the ordinace was then approved by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in 2012.
Despite its good intentions, the ordinance has been criticized for neglecting the well-being of teachers at their place of work.
Opposition to the ordinance was first raised in August 2022 by a coalition of religious groups and parents who opposed its clause on granting freedom regarding sexual orientation.
“The student rights ordinance justifies unethical sexual conduct such as homosexuality, sexual transition, early sexual conduct and abolition,” the coalition said, submitting a request to abolish the ordinance to the city council.
The city council, dominated by ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) council members, accepted the request and started pushing for its abolition.
The criticism intensified after a 24-year-old elementary school teacher ended her life inside her classroom in Seoul’s Seocho District last July after constant harassment from parents.
Hence a number of her colleagues and teachers’ groups have called for the abolition of the ordinance.
Teaming up with PPP politicians, they argue that the ordinance infringes on teachers’ and other students’ rights to education, as some parents take advantage of the ordinance by abusing it to limit teachers’ educational activities and wrongly accuse teachers of child abuse.
As South Chungcheong and Seoul education offices have abolished the ordinance, there are six remaining regional education offices — Gyeonggi, Gwangju, North Jeolla Province, South Chungcheong Province, Incheon and Jeju — that still enforce the ordinance.
The education circle believes the ordinance helped improve the welfare of students progress against Korea's authoritative school culture.
“The ordinance led to an end of authoritative school culture such as corporal punishment, forced inspection of students’ personal belongings, school uniforms and hairstyle regulations,” said a Gyeonggi-based teacher on condition of anonymity.
“The ordinance needs to be upgraded to highlight students’ responsibilities to respect others’ human rights and include teachers’ rights as well, but an abolition of the ordinance altogether will bring a regression to human rights in the education sector,” she added.
The debate is expected to expand to the National Assembly as the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a parliamentary majority, plans to legislate an act on student rights, regardless of regional offices’ respective regulations.
Superintendent Choo Hee-yeon, left, of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) poses with Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk during a sit-in protest to oppose the abolition of the student rights ordinance in front of the education office in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap
Meanwhile, Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) has begun a sit-in protest to oppose the council’s decision to remove the ordinance.
Amid criticism of the ordinance, the Seoul education office had planned to legislate an amendment to the previous ordinance, in which both responsibilities and rights of students are highlighted, while also respecting teachers’ rights.